I'm older now, and simple beer pleasures are the most meaningful to me. They tend to be encountered locally. It is my aim to get unplugged and explore some of them, slowly and thoughtfully. I'd tell you where it's leading, except that I've no idea ... and that's the whole point of the journey: To find out.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

UPDATED: Stylishness at the Kentucky State Fair homebrew competition.

Today was the annual judging of the Kentucky State Fair homebrew competition. Here are the judges and stewards hard at it.

Most of the judges present have experience in beer evaluation, and many have taken the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) test, which the Potable Curmudgeon managed to pass three years ago with the bare minimum score of 70.

The science parts bedeviled me, so I had to be perfect on the history of brewing and style description.

Today, I was delighted to help judge the opening round in the Pale Ale category. My group of three beer lovers judged 5 American Pale Ales and 4 India Pale Ales, with 2 of the APA's and 1 of the IPA's, along with three beers from another Pale Ale flight, being passed through for evaluation by a different team of judges.

Two of the best beers I judged did not go through. One was a great English-style Barley Wine, and the second was an IPA -- but the IPA was entered in the APA category, and the Barley Wine was entered in the IPA category.

It might be the best beer you've ever tasted, but if it's entered into the wrong style category, it loses points.